If Tennessee defeats Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Vols' SEC victory total in a nine-week span will equal Vanderbilt's total the last nine years.

The Vols take a 5-1 league mark into the game; the Commodores are 6-67 in the conference since Nov. 5, 1995.

UT has outscored Vandy 110-0 the past three seasons.

The Vols have won 21 consecutive games in the series, the third-longest streak against a major opponent in I-A.

Those are few notes you can bet Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer won't be mentioning to his team before the Vols (7-2) face Vanderbilt (2-8, 1-6) in Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville on Saturday (12:30 p.m. kickoff).

That said, how does a coach motivate his team to play one of the worst programs in Division I-A football? Fulmer has won more games (120-30) than the past seven Vanderbilt head coaches combined.

With Tennessee's magic number reduced to one to claim a berth in the SEC championship game, Fulmer offered a hint of how he will approach Vandy week during his Sunday teleconference.

"I know it's always a big challenge for us,'' he said following UT's open date.

"When you play an in-state rival, it's always a battle."

Not always. After a disheartening 14-13 loss at Kentucky on Saturday, several Commodores admitted the team "laid down" in a 48-0 loss at Tennessee last season.

Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson may be asking himself how he can keep that from happening again in a game that offers the Commodores little chance of winning.

Fulmer's approach may be to remind his players that they don't want to be remembered for losing to Vanderbilt.

"I emphasize to our players every year the intensity of this football game,'' Fulmer said.

"The fact that it's an in-state school, this means an awful lot to people on both sides. We talk about the history of the series, making sure they know how intense this football game can be."

The series history shows Vanderbilt has won only five of 50 games since 1954.

Although Tennessee has some wiggle room and could advance to the SEC title game if it loses to either Vandy or Kentucky, Fulmer indicated he wants to win the Eastern Division outright with a 7-1 mark.

"You just gotta win one of the two but I don't think anybody is looking at it that way,'' he said.

"We don't want to limp into anything."

Ainge Update: Fulmer said freshman quarterback Erik Ainge's prognosis hasn't changed and that he is expected to miss another three to five weeks. Ainge, who separated his right shoulder against Notre Dame, didn't suffer "a lot of damage," Fulmer said.

Ainge will be re-evaluated in another week, then another two weeks after that. Third-stringer Rick Clausen will be making his first UT career start against the Commodores.

Fulmer continued his recent theme of saying he was looking for a more "efficient" offense.

Quicker Release: If circumstances forced Fulmer to go to fourth-stringer C.J. Leak, how ready would he be?

"He can throw it,'' Fulmer said. "He has done a good job of throwing it on time, which was one of his issues before. I jokingly said after practice the other day that maybe we need to move all our quarterbacks to linebacker so they'll throw it quicker when they come back. He's way further along than we thought he might be after missing all that time."

Fulmer's Vote: UT's coach is standing firm on his position that he wants to keep his vote secret in the coaches' poll unless he is told to make it public by the American Football Coaches Association.

By The Numbers: UT defensive back Jason Allen continues to lead the SEC in tackles per game (10.3); Linebacker Kevin Burnett is second (9.4). UT is first in the league in red-zone defense (69.7-percent scoring rate against the Vols). UT remained at No. 15 in the AP poll and moved up two spots to No. 16 in the coaches' poll.

Injury Update: Fulmer said punter Dustin Colquitt has a "real significant pulled groin" but is expected to be ready to play Vanderbilt. The status of injured offensive lineman Cody Douglas is uncertain.